Day: January 14, 2014

04-07: Centvrión, Dinamic Black, Golden Magic vs Alan Extreme, Carta Brava Jr., Imposible: GREAT. A fun trios match between guys who are skilled have worked against each other many times most of the way, enough so that the first two finishes are surprise counters to set up moves. They found a couple extra gears in the third fall when the rudos were just wrecking the tecnico’s lives. The toss into a dropkick in the third fall was the best one anyone’s ever done. They got the money thrown in treatment and deserved it.

you could do this a 1000 times and not time it better

keep watching

2013-04-11 Mr. Leo & Saruman vs Alan Extreme & Fulgor: I don’t know how Mr. Leo didn’t break Alan Extreme for all time on that German suplex. First fall ended with three men hurt on the mat; Leo was the survivor more than the winner. Rest of the match was good quality (with even more head droppy) but it doesn’t crack the list. Fulgor had a really nice tornillo in the third.

Eterno finds a way to counter the handspring

04-11 IWRG: el Ángel vs Eterno for the IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship: Technically fine match which didn’t connect with me at all. Technical throughout but also feeling like they could’ve had this match in an empty gym without changing anything. Angel wasn’t bad, but the most entertaining thing he did was take the towel away from Alan Xtreme in between, wave him off, and then pull out the old matador bit. I think he’s got a personality but it’s never come across during the match. Finish came off well because everyone was generally surprised it happened and reacted like it was a big deal, but the match itself didn’t do a lot for me.

Imposible turned out to be OK.

04-14 IWRG: Black Terry, Centvrión, Golden Magic vs Canis Lupus, Carta Brava Jr., Imposible: Seemed like it was sizing up as a good match, but then that gif happened and they had to finish the rest of it 3 técnicos on 2 rudos. Refereee Rosas worked as blatant heel referee the rest of the way to make it work as best they could but it was not an appealing match and everyone seemed a little thrown off by Impossible getting streteched out. I know I was – I wouldn’t be using that gif if this wasn’t months ago and Imposble was back and threading his dreadlocks thru his nose hole. Finish was an absurd bit of Carta Brava clearly fouling the técnicos twice in front of the referees and getting away with it, maybe because of how plans had fallen apart.

Hechicero wizardyhammerlock swinging backbreaker

04-14 ACM: Blue Panther & Sagrado vs Caifan & Rey Hechicero: GREAT. First fall was outstanding, with just creative and awesome mat work. Rey Hechicero is a wizard (that’s sort of the gimmick) but Sagrado kept up with him with some stuff he never shows, and Panther and Caifan also really good. The rest of the match wasn’t as much that way, but there was plenty going on here to make this easy call for great and maybe more. The only real flaw was production missing the finish while showing replays; the draw came quickly and felt more random when they missed it live. I bet no one knows more ways to pin themselves than Rey Hechicero.

Tigre Rojo tornillo armbar

05-20 Puebla: Asturiano, Meyer, Tigre Rojo Jr. vs Akrón, King Jaguar, Siki Ozama Jr.: Useful as a look at a couple of the new Arena Puebla guys but not a good match in itself (and those new guys aren’t so good that you really need to look at them.) Akron had some problems and King Jaguar was wrestling one armed by the middle of the second fall, so this wasn’t going to work out. Meyer and Akron look like they need more time to develop. I think I put this on the list because Asturiano and Siki Osama are quality and they still are, but there wasn’t enough to work with here. Things did get interesting to end the third fall. This match might have set the record for most people selling being beat up by sitting in an empty seat.

Like this:

CMLL NJPW (TUE) 01/14/2014 Body Maker Coloseum, Osaka, Japan [NJPW, PuroresuFan]***CMLL NJPW FantasticaMania 2014***
Attendance: 1300
1) Taichi & Taka Michinoku b Bushiroad & Titán~9:15. Titan looked good doing his signature spots. Taichi pulled Bushiroad’s mask for the win (though he struggled with a cradle.) Rudos took Titan’s mask as well.
2) Fuego, Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. b Niebla Roja, Shigeo Okumura, VangellysMima Shimoda was back with Okumura. Rey Cometa wrestled the match in his mask, but it didn’t help him – Okumura reversed his huracanrana in 6:40 for the win. The other four were taken out by dives right before the end. Cometa took off his mask post match.
3) Jushin Liger & Máximo b Gedo & Jado10:26. Maximo kiss of death on Jado set up a casita.
4) Naito & Volador Jr. b Kushida & Máscara DoradaVolador beat Mascara Dorada with the Canadian Destroyer in 8:36. Like Rey Cometa, Volador wrestled the match in his mask and unmasked after his win.
5) Shinsuke Nakamura & Último Guerrero b La Sombra & RushUltimo Guerrero beat Sombra with the Guerrero Special in 12:25. Best match on the show so far.
6) El Desperado, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Mistico b Mephisto, Okada, Rey EscorpiónTanahashi had the CMLL Universal championship. Desperado slipped out from the Rainmaker and landed a big tope con giro, taking Okada and half the announce desk. La Mistica on Rey Escorpion in 10:17.

A good show, though not a must see one. 1300 is listed as a sell out. Main event was strongly about showcasing Mistico; he’s the star of this tour. The other guys looked good and it’s going to be helping Desperado to be working with the CMLL rudos for this tour. Ultimo Guerrero was working harder in Japan than he has in Mexico most of the time (though he was still checking off his near falls.) That finish, and maybe the fourth, are explicitly to build towards singles matches later in the tour.

Show was about 2 hours on the dot from bell to bell, including about a 20 minute intermission. (There was also a 30 minute preshow and a 15 minute post show as part of the broadcast.) That’s a few minutes less than the length of a usual CMLL Sunday Terra but even less ring time due the intermission. The matches are shorter – the second match was very short despite all those guys – but the show has a good flow and keeps moving. This was a hometown show for Okumura, his first in five years as best I can tell, which may explains why he got the win.

All of the CMLL music is muted out due to copyright issues, which is frustrating. It’s not a fun when Fuego is dancing around to silence. The feed had no problem. It did seem like most of the people watching the show were watching on SamuraiTV and not the internet. Both Voldaor & Rey Cometa wore their masks for the entirety of their matches, then took them off post match. I think that’s for merchandise reason; everyone’s brought suitcases of masks and other gear to sell to collectors, and there was a CMLL merchandise stand at show (about the same size as the one in Arena Mexico, which is not that impressive.)

The next FantasticaMania show is Wednesday in Kyoto. The next iPPV is Saturday morning at 3:30 AM CT (and definitely not 2:30 AM) for $15.

AAA posted a press release about the deal with El Rey and Mark Burnett. The release says the show will be fully produced and recorded in Los Angeles (where AAA already has an office set up.) That sounds like they’re getting a building or soundstage and producing everything in one location to start, not touring around with the TV. It’s the best idea if they want to get a good crowd.

Cinco Radio’s Twitter reported Brazo de Plata suffered a neck injury last night. Other reports say it came after a Dragon Rojo slam. Porky was strechered out and the doctor on the hand said Porky will be out fifteen days. That’s going to cause a lot of reshuffling. Due to many tecnicos being in Japan, Brazo de Plata was supposed to be on all three DF cards this week – main event today, semimain event on Friday and tercera on Sunday. CMLL doesn’t have as many top guys on hand. They have plenty of midcard and lowcard guys, so I’d guess the spaces will be filled from people in lesser matches and the replacements coming in those. (Or Porky will just end up working thru his injury.)

(CMLL has already changed around the lineups. Oro goes in for Soberano today, while Ephesto replaces Gran Guerrero and Averno replaces Tiger on Friday.)

El Popular’s recap of last night’s Puebla show says the main event set up a Shocker versus Rey Bucanero match for next week. Bucanero put his feet on the ropes to beat Shocker in the third. The recap lists Valiente on the rudo side, replacing Terrible and working twice, but doesn’t seem to think that’s strange at all.

Today is CMLL’s second Nuevo Valores Martes, and also a Fan Appreciation day. The change you have laying around may be enough to buy a ticket (especially if your change still includes a 25 peso coin for some reason, like me.) Main event is scheduled to be Brazo de Plata, Valiente & Delta versus Polvora, Bobby Zavala and Dragon Rojo; CMLL seems to be setting up singles matches around the horn and it’s been a while since Polvora & Rojo have defended their championships. Negro Casas and TKPKFusion take on Divinos Laguneros (the new name for the Panther family) in a rematch of the semifinal.

Inferno Rockers say 2013 was a good year for them (?), say Psycho Clown is a hypocrite for leaving behind his partners to challenge for the heavyweight title, do not reference having a mystery partner on Friday.

Like this:

AAA didn’t air (and would’ve been a repeat.) IWRG aired in portions and then complete; I used the complete date. Puebla had some issues; we’re missing the start of the mask match and parts of the third and fifth.

I’ve got the Jul-Dec Fox Sports matches up on: https://www.youtube.com/user/luchablogvault. I’m working on 52MX next. I’m also thinking I’ll starting getting Terra up this week on DailyMotion, which will just leave AAA and IWL.

Uploading 52MX/Fox matches which aired on Terra seems safe. If you absolutely don’t want to go to DailyMotion, you’ll still see some (edited) versions of that match on the YouTube channel.

It turns out the download option for DailyMotion is only for the uploader. Disappointing!

CMLL NJPW (TUE) 01/14/2014 Body Maker Coloseum, Osaka, Japan***CMLL NJPW FantasticaMania 2014***
1) Taichi & Taka Michinoku b Bushiroad & Titán~9:14. Titan looked good doing his signature spots. Taichi pulled Bushiroad’s mask for the win (though he struggled with a cradle.) Rudos took Titan’s mask as well.
2) Fuego, Rey Cometa, Stuka Jr. vs Niebla Roja, Shigeo Okumura, VangellysMima Shimoda was back with Okumura. Rey Cometa wrestled the match in his mask, but it didn’t help him – Okumura reversed his huracanrana in ~6:30 for the win. The other four were taken out by dives right before the end. Cometa took off his mask post match.
3) Jushin Liger & Máximo b Gedo & JadoMaximo kiss of death on Jado.

Interview

4) Naito & Volador Jr. b Kushida & Máscara DoradaVolador beat Mascara Dorada with the Canadian Destroyer in 8:36. Like Rey Cometa, Volador wrestled the match in his mask and unmasked after his win.
5) Shinsuke Nakamura & Último Guerrero b La Sombra & RushUltimo Guerrero beat Sombra with the Guerrero Special in 12:30. Best match on the show so far.
6) El Desperado, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Mistico b Mephisto, Okada, Rey EscorpiónTanahashi had the CMLL Universal championship. Desperado slipped out from the Rainmaker and landed a big tope con giro, taking Okada and half the announce desk. La Mistica on Mistico in 10:18.